4 6 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 8 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 2 2 tains, rivers and the great earth all disclose the Dharma-body” (quoted in Abe 1997, 74). The Japanese Zen Master Dōgen (1200–1253; 2012, 6–7) asserted that there was not a single phenomenon that did not radiate Buddha-nature: Earth, grass, trees, walls, tiles, and pebbles in the world of phenomena in the ten directions all engage in buddha activity… Grasses, trees, and lands… radiate a great light and endlessly expound the inconceivable, profound dharma. Grass, trees, and walls bring forth the teaching to all beings… Kūkai (774–835), the founder of Japanese tantric Buddhism (Shingon), maintains that the Buddha body not only extends to include all life forms but is essentially synonymous with the body of all bodies (quoted in Yasuo 1987, 156): This body is my body, the Buddha body, and the bodies of all sentient beings. They are all named the ‘body.’ ... ‘This’ body is, no doubt, ‘that’ body. ‘That’ body is, no doubt, ‘this’ body. The Buddha body is no doubt the bodies of all sentient beings, and the bodies of all sentient beings are no doubt the Buddha body. They are different, but yet identical. They are not different, but yet different. A profound ecological vision can also be found in the Taoist tradition, as we see in Zhūangzi (Chuang Tzu): “Heaven and earth spring from the same root as myself, and all things are one with me” (quoted in Wu 2003, 199). Taoism asserts: “The ways of men are conditioned by those of earth. The ways of earth, by those of heaven. The ways of heaven by those of Tao, and the ways of Tao by the Self-so” (Lao Tzu 1997, 26). The Tao is the origin of all that is and, for us to preserve harmony with the rest of creation, human beings need to maintain unity with this principle: “The World has a First Cause, which may be regarded as the Mother of the World. When one has the Mother, one can know the Child. He who knows the Child and still keeps the Mother, though his body perish, shall run no risk of harm” (Lao Tzu 1904, 23). In Judaism, we find: “The whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). In restoring our spiritual vision, we will be able to discern the works of the Creator: “For, all things look to [note: His] face…which renews the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:27), including: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (John 1:3). Through the Divine Unity, everything derives and receives its sustenance (Psalm 104:10–14): He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth. Our sacred duty to look after the natural world is communicated here: “God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Within the Christian tradition, it is recognized that the Divine is present “in all things” (Colossians 3:11) and “may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28), for the Divine is “in Him through whom all things live, move, and have their being” (Acts 17:28). The transcendent glory of each thing in the created order is recognized: “There is one glory of the sun, and another of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:41). Hugh of Saint Victor (c. 1096–1141) speaks of a traditional ecological knowledge imparted through divine wisdom: “Every nature tells of God; every nature teaches man; every nature reproduces its essential form, and nothing in the universe is infecund” (1991, 145). St. Paul of the Cross (1694–1775) urges us to learn directly from creation: “[Note: Listen] to the sermon preached by the flowers, the trees, the meadows, the sun, the sky, and the whole universe. You will find that they exhort you to love and praise God; that they excite you to extol the greatness of the Sovereign Architect Who has given them their being” (1893, 89). Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) writes (1920, 212–13): Every particular thing, be [note: it] herb, grass, tree, beast, bird, fish, worm, or whatsoever it be… has proceeded from the separator of all beings… from the Word… For this visible world with all its host and being is nothing but an objective representation of the spiritual world, which spiritual world is hidden in this material, elemental world, like… the tincture in herbs and metals. The entirety of the created order is united in the Divine (Colossians 1:15–20): [Note: Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
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